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A. glaciers
B. wind
C. water
Answer: D
C. be less than 0 %
Answer: D
A. loess
B. talus
C. drift
D. dune sand
Answer: B
Answer: C
A. S>0
B. S<0
C. 0<S<100
Answer: D
A. silt
B. clay
C. coarse sand
D. fine sand
Answer: C
7. A soil has a bulk density of 22 kN/m3 and water content 10 %. The dry density of soil is
A. 18.6 kN/m3
B. 20.0 kN/m3
C. 22.0 kN/m3
D. 23.2 kN/m3
Answer: B
8. If the voids of a soil mass are full of air only, the soil is termed as
D. dehydrated soil
Answer: C
A. 0<n<100
B. 0<n<100
C. n>0
D. n<0
Answer: A
A. Unit weight of dry soil is greater than unit weight of wet soil.
B. For dry soils, dry unit weight is less than total unit weight.
Answer: D
B. be zero
Answer: C
12. If the volume of voids is equal to the volume of solids in a soil mass, then the values of porosity and
voids ratio respectively are
Answer: C
13. When the degree of saturation is zero, the soil mass under consideration represents
Answer: B
A. lD>0
B. ID>0
C. 0 < lD < 1
D. 0 < ID < 1
Answer: D
15. If the degree of saturation of a partially saturated soil is 60%, then air content of the soil is
A. 40%
B. 60%
C. 80%
D. 100%
Answer: A
16. If the water content of a fully saturated soil mass is 100%, then the voids ratio of the sample is
Answer: B
17. The ratio of volume of voids to the total volume of soil mass is called
A. air content
B. porosity
D. voids ratio
Answer: B
A. 0.4
B. 0.6
C. 0.95
D. 1.20
Answer: C
19. If the sand in-situ is in its densest state, then the relative density of sand is
A. zero
B. 1
C. between 0 and 1
D. greater than 1
Answer: B
20. Which of the following methods is most accurate for the determination of the water content of soil ?
D. pycnometer method
Answer: A
21. For proper field control, which of the following methods is best suited for quick determination of
water content of a soil mass ?
C. alcohol method
Answer: D
Answer: C
Answer: C
25. The hydrometer method of sedimentation analysis differs from the pipette analysis mainly in
Answer: B
A. effective size
B. uniformity coefficient
C. coefficient of curvature
Answer: B
A. Uniformity coefficient represents the shape of the particle size distribution curve.
B. For a well graded soil, both uniformity coefficient and coefficient of curvature are nearly unity.
C. A soil is said to be well graded if it has most of the particles of about the same size
Answer: D
B. always equal to 1
Answer: D
29. According to Atterberg, the soil is said to be of medium plasticity if the plasticity index PI is
A. 0 < PI < 7
B. 7<PI< 17
C. 17<PI<27
D. PI>27
Answer: B
30. If the natural water content of soil mass lies between its liquid limit and plastic limit, the soil mass is
said to be in
A. liquid state
B. plastic state
C. semi-solid state
D. solid state
Answer: B
32. When the plastic limit of a soil is greater than the liquid limit, then the plasticity index is reported as
A. negative
B. zero
C. non-plastic (NP)
D. 1
Answer: B
Answer: B
34. If the plasticity index of a soil mass is zero, the soil is
A. sand
B. silt
C. clay
D. clayey silt
Answer: A
35. The admixture of coarser particles like sand or silt to clay causes
Answer: C
A. A uniform soil has more strength and stability than a non-uniform soil.
B. A uniform soil has less strength and stability than a non-uniform soil.
D. Uniformity coefficient of a poorly graded soil is more than that of a well graded soil.
Answer: B
38. The water content of soil, which represents the boundary between plastic state and liquid state, is
known as
A. liquid limit
B. plastic limit
C. shrinkage limit
D. plasticity index
Answer: A
39. Which of the following soils has more plasticity index ?
A. sand
B. silt
C. clay
D. gravel
Answer: C
Answer: A
41. If the material of the base of the Casagrande liquid limit device on which the cup containing soil
paste drops is
Answer: A
A. 4.75 mm to 2.00 mm
B. 2.00 mm to 0.425 mm
C. 0.425 mm to 0.075 mm
D. 0.075 mm to 0.002 mm
Answer: D
B. plasticity characteristics
Answer: C
A. MH
B. SL
C. ML
D. CH
Answer: C
A. rock minerals
B. kaolinite
C. illite
D. montmorillonite
Answer: A
46. The clay mineral with the largest swelling and shrinkage characteristics is
A. kaolinite
B. illite
C. montmorillonite
Answer: C
47. Dispersed type of soil structure is an arrangement comprising particles having
Answer: A
Answer: C
Answer: A
50. The total and effective stresses at a depth of 5 m below the top level of water in a swimming pool
are respectively
Answer: B
51. If the water table rises upto ground surface, then the
A. effective stress is reduced due to decrease in total stress only but pore water pressure does not
change
B. effective stress is reduced due to increase in pore water pressure only but total stress does not
change
C. total stress is reduced due to increase in pore water pressure only but effec-tive stress does not
change
D. total stress is increased due to de-crease in pore water pressure but effective stress does not change
Answer: B
A. type of sand
Answer: A
54. The hydraulic head that would produce a quick condition in a sand stratum of thickness 1.5 m,
specific gravity 2.67 and voids ratio 0.67 is equal to
A. 1.0m
B. 1.5 m
C. 2.0 m
D. 3m
Answer: B
A. viscosity only
Answer: C
Answer: B
Answer: C
A. gravel
B. sand
C. silt
D. clay
Answer: B
59. Which of the following methods is more suitable for the determination of permeability of clayey soil
?
Answer: B
60. Which of the following methods is best suited for determination of permeability of coarse-grained
soils ?
Answer: A
61. Due to a rise in temperature, the viscosity and the unit weight of the percolating fluid are reduced to
60% and 90% respectively.
A. increases by 25%
B. increases by 50%
C. increases by 33.3%
D. decreases by 33.3%
Answer: B
Answer: B
D. parallel to stratification may or may not be greater than that perpendicular to stratification
Answer: A
64. The total discharge from two wells situated near to each other is
Answer: B
65. The flownet for an earthen dam with 30 m water depth consists of 25 potential drops and 5 flow
channels. The coefficient of permeability of dam material is 0.03 mm/sec. The discharge per meter
length of dam is
A. 0.00018 nrVsec
B. 0.0045 m3/sec
C. 0.18m3/sec
D. 0.1125m3/sec
Answer: A
66. The most suitable method for drainage of fine grained cohesive soils is
B. vacuum method
D. electroosmosis method
Answer: D
67. Total number of stress components at a point within a soil mass loaded at its boundary is
A. 3
B. 6
C. 9
D. 16
Answer: C
76. The slope of isochrone at any point at a given time indicates the rate of change of
Answer: C
A. a gradual increase in neutral pressure and a gradual decrease in effective pressure takes place and
sum of the two is constant
B. a gradual decrease in neutral pressure and a gradual increase in effective pressure takes place and
sum of the two is constant
Answer: B
78. The value of compression index for a remoulded sample whose liquid limit is 50% is
A. 0.028
B. 0.28
C. 036
D. 0.036
Answer: B
79. Which one of the following clays behaves like a dense sand ?
D. under-consolidated clay
Answer: A
A. compressibility
B. permeability
Answer: C
Answer: B
A. a dimensional parameter
Answer: B
84. Clay layer A with single drainage and coefficient of consolidation Cv takes 6 months to achieve 50%
consolidation. The time taken by clay layer B of the same thickness with double drainage and coefficient
of consolidation Cv/2 to achieve the same degree of consolidation is
A. 3 months
B. 6 months
C. 12 months
D. 24 months
Answer: A
Answer: A
86. Direct measurement of permeability of the specimen at any stage of loading can be made
Answer: A
Answer: C
88. Select the correct statement.
Answer: A
B. different for different types of soils and also different for a soil under different states of consolidation
C. different for different types of soils but same for a soil under different states of consolidation
Answer: B
Answer: A
92. A normally consolidated clay settled 10 mm when effective stress was increased from 100 kN/m2 to
200 kN/ m2. If the effective stress is further increased from 200 kN/ m2 to 400 kN/ m2, then the
settlement of the same clay is
A. 10 mm
B. 20 mm
C. 40 mm
Answer: A
A. drum roller
D. vibratory roller
Answer: D
D. both optimum water content and maximum dry density decrease[ES 93]
Answer: B
95. The maximum dry density upto which any soil can be compacted depends upon
Answer: C
97. For better strength and stability, the fine grained soils and coarse grained soils are compacted
respectively as
D. dry of OMC and dry of OMC where OMC is optimum moisture content
Answer: B
B. Effective angle of internal friction for coarse grained soils is rarely below 30°.
C. Effective angle of internal friction for a soil increases as state of compact-ness increases.
D. Effective angle of internal friction is a complicated function of mineralogy and clay size content.
Answer: A
99. For a loose sand sample and a dense sand sample consolidated to the same effective stress
C. ultimate strength is same but peak strength of dense sand is greater than that of loose sand
Answer: C
Answer: D
101. In a consolidated drained test on a normally consolidated clay, the volume of the soil sample during
shear
A. decreases
B. increases
C. remains unchanged
Answer: A
A. 1
B. zero
C. between 0 and 1
Answer: A
Answer: A
A. effective stress increases with depth but water content of soil and un-drained strength decrease with
depth
B. effective stress and water content increase with depth but undrained strength decreases with depth
C. effective stress and undrained strength increase with depth but water content decreases with depth
D. effective stress, water content and undrained strength decrease with depth
Answer: C
Answer: C
A. undrained test
B. drained test
Answer: A
107. A cylindrical specimen of saturated soil failed under an axial vertical stress of 100kN/m2 when it
was laterally unconfmed. The failure plane was inclined to the horizontal plane at an angle of 45°.
The values of cohesion and angle of internal friction for the soil are respectively
Answer: B
109. The angle that Coulomb’s failure envelope makes with the horizontal is called
A. cohesion
C. angle of repose
Answer: A
111. If a cohesive soil specimen is subjected to a vertical compressive load, the inclination of the cracks
to the horizontal is
A. 90°
B. 45°
C. 22.5°
D. 0°
Answer: B
B. Better control is achieved on the drainage of the soil in a triaxial compression test.
C. Stress distribution on the failure plane in the case of triaxial compression test is uniform.
Answer: D
113. If the shearing stress is zero on two planes, then the angle between the two planes is
A. 45°
B. 90°
C. 135°
D. 225°
Answer: B
114. In the triaxial compression test, the application of additional axial stress (i.e. deviator stress) on the
soil specimen produces shear stress on
Answer: D
116. In a triaxial compression test when drainage is allowed during the first stage (i. E. Application of cell
pressure) only and not during the second stage (i.e. application of deviator stress at constant cell
pressure), the test is known as
Answer: B
120. During the first stage of triaxial test when the cell pressure is increased from 0.10 N/mm2 to 0.26
N/mm2, the pore water pressure increases from 0.07 N/mm2 to 0.15 “N/mm2. Skempton’s pore
pressure parameter B is
A. 0.5
B. -0.5
C. 2.0
D. – 2.0
Answer: A
B. ratio of compressive strength of unconfined undisturbed soil to that of soil in a remoulded state
Answer: B
122. Rankine’s theory of earth pressure assumes that the back of the wall is
Answer: C
123. The coefficient of active earth pressure for a loose sand having an angle of internal friction of 30° is
A. 1/3
B. 3
C. 1
D. ½
Answer: A
124. The major principal stress in an element of cohesionless soil within the backfill of a retaining wall is
Answer: A
A. reduce both the active earth pressure intensity and passive earth pressure intensity
B. increase both the active earth pressure intensity and passive earth pressure intensity
C. reduce the active earth pressure in-tensity but to increase the passive earth pressure intensity
D. increase the active earth pressure in-tensity but to reduce the passive earth pressure intensity [GATE
99]
Answer: C
127. A retaining wall 6m high supports a backfill with a surcharge angle of 10°. The back of the wall is
inclined to the vertical at a positive batter angle of 5°. If the angle of wall friction is 7°, then the resultant
active earth pressure will act at a distance of 2 m above the base and inclined to the horizontal at an
angle of
A. 7°
B. 10°
C. 12°
D. 17°
Answer: C
A. less than active earth pressure but greater than passive earth pressure
B. greater than active earth pressure but less than passive earth pressure
C. greater than both the active earth pressure and passive earth pressure
Answer: B
A. is more conservative
Answer: C
D. none of above
Answer: C
142. The rise of water table below the foundation influences the bearing capacity of soil mainly by
reducing
Answer: B
Y =unit weight of soil D = depth of foundation B = width of foundation N„ Nq, NY = bearing capacity
factors
Answer: C
A. cohesion only
Answer: B
145. In the plate loading test for determining the bearing capacity of soil, the size of square bearing
plate should be
D. greater than 1 m
Answer: B
A. Bearing capacity of a soil depends upon the amount and direction of load.
Answer: A
147. A 600 mm square bearing plate settles by 15 mm in plate load test on a cohesionless soil under an
intensity of loading of 0.2 N/ram2. The settlement of a prototype shallow footing 1 m square under the
same intensity of loading is
A. 15 mm
B. between 15 mm and 25 mm
C. 25 mm
D. greater than 25 mm
Answer: B
148. A 300 mm square bearing plate settles by 15 mm in a plate load test on a cohesive soil when the
intensity of loading is 0.2 N/mm2. The settlement of a prototype shallow footing 1 m square under the
same intensity of loading is
A. 15 mm
B. 30 mm
C. 50 mm
D. 167 mm
Answer: C
149. Rise of water table in cohesionless soils upto ground surface reduces the net ultimate bearing
capacity approximately by
A. 25%
B. 50%
C. 75%
D. 90%
Answer: B
C. uniform throughout
Answer: B